More Than Meets the Eye (21 page)

His first impulse was to deny them, to tell them to piss off and keep out of his affairs. But he felt no shame about what he proposed for him and Ally – rather the reverse, indeed. In the shady world in which he operated, this was one of the few things unsullied, one of the brighter and better areas of his future. Even to these enemies, he wanted to declare the simple integrity of his feelings for Ally. Love can make people vulnerable, even people like Peter Nayland.

He spoke steadily, even proudly. ‘I intend to marry Alison Cooper. That was our intention before the death of her husband. There will now be no need for the delays of divorce. I anticipate that we shall be united in the near future.'

There was something ridiculous but also slightly touching in this avowal from a soiled man like Nayland, thought Ruth David. Perhaps she was a romantic, but after four years of continual involvement with criminals and life's seamier side, she didn't think so.

It was only on the forty-mile drive back to the murder room at Westbourne that DI Rushton pointed out thoughtfully, ‘If Nayland was being honest in what he said about Alison Cooper, that gives both of them a stronger motive than ever for this killing.'

‘We'll have this out now. Whilst the kids are at school.' Jim Hartley's suntanned face was pale and set. He was determined but very unhappy.

Julie Hartley set a cup of coffee on the low table at his elbow. She had known it would come to this. Sooner or later, they had to have this out. She should have welcomed it, really, but she felt only dread. She said dully, ‘You're right. We can't talk about this in front of the children.'

‘There shouldn't really be anything to talk about.'

‘But there is, Jim. It's a fact of life, and you're right to say that we can't just ignore it.' She was sitting opposite him and she now leaned forward and placed her hand on top of his. ‘Jim, none of this is down to you. I know I've hurt you, but I never meant to do that.'

He pulled his hand roughly away from hers. ‘It's time you finished with this nonsense. We've got two fine boys and we're a lovely family. Everyone says so.'

‘What everyone says and sees isn't always the truth. We
seem
a lovely family from the outside, Jim. We're the only ones who know that it isn't so. And it's not your fault. In so far as it's anyone's, it's mine. The reality is that it's just an unfortunate fact of life. I discovered my real sexual orientation much too late in life. This is a mess, but a mess we can sort out.'

‘We can if you come to your senses and realize your responsibilities. And if we're allotting blame, a lot of it must go down to that damned woman who's turned your head!'

‘It's not Sarah's fault! You can leave her out of this!'

She had flown instantly to the defence of her lover. Jim realized that he had made a mistake in mentioning Sarah Goodwin, but her reaction had wounded him anew. He was so sick with emotion that he had no idea what to do, what were the best tactics for him in this situation. He had never imagined anything like this could happen to him.

All the arguments he'd meant to present coolly came tumbling out as he clawed at his distress. ‘I'll fight you for the boys! You won't take them away from me! Maybe I'll still have you back, when you come to your senses. The lads need a mother.'

Julie felt acutely sorry for him. But she couldn't help him, could she? Not without compromising the thing which mattered most of all to her. She wanted to throw herself across the small space between them, to kneel at his feet, to put her arms round his knees, hug him and mutter consoling words, as one would do to a suffering child.

But she did none of these things. Jim would misinterpret them wouldn't he? He'd think she was ‘coming to her senses'. And then she'd have to tell him that it wasn't so and hurt him all over again. She said miserably, ‘I agree it's a mess. I agree none of it is your fault. But I love Sarah, and I can't alter that. I love you too, but in a different sort of way. Sarah and I will make a home together and we'll look after Sam and Oliver. They'll always be your boys. You'll be able to see them whenever you want to.'

‘The boys are happy here. They love it here. They'll stay with me.'

His face set, immovable as granite. Julie said gently, ‘Children are best with their mother, Jim. The courts will take that line, if it comes to it. But I hope we can agree something sensible between ourselves.'

‘Between the three of us, you mean? You'll bring that woman into it, won't you? She's good with words, so you'll throw her in against me when it comes to the arguments. She's cleverer with books and plays and music than a simple sod like me. That's what's turned your head. That's why you won't listen to reason.'

‘That isn't true, Jim. And I won't bring Sarah into any of the arguments. She wouldn't want that and neither do I.' She felt wretched, felt weighed down with guilt at what she was doing, but she knew that she mustn't back off, mustn't leave him with any illusion that there might yet be room for compromise.

He had no arguments left, or none that he could think of. The reasoned approaches he had been planning for weeks had flown from him, once he was sitting opposite the face and the body he loved and hearing that Julie was determined to take them from him. He looked hopelessly into the brown eyes and white face in their frame of long black hair, then threw in the only line he could think of. ‘I'll lose my job here.'

‘Why should you do that?'

‘You'll make a laughing stock of me if you leave me like this. They'll say I'm not up to the job.'

‘Your private life has nothing to do with being a head gardener.'

‘But it has, when you're the head gardener and in charge of a lot of young people. Dennis Cooper thought that. He said the National Trust was a very conservative association and would want a resident family here. He said I should sort out this situation and restore you to sanity.'

‘That's ridiculous!' But as she sent him miserably back into his gardens, Julie Hartley thought that those phrases weren't Jim's. They sounded very much as if they might have come from Dennis Cooper.

‘I did warn you that we would need to speak to you again when we knew more about the people involved in this crime. We are now three days into the investigation and we have reached that stage. We have studied your husband's files and also some of the private thoughts recorded in a small notebook he kept.'

Alison Cooper heard the challenge in Lambert's voice and she was acutely aware of his watching her every reaction. Her own voice seemed to come from some distance away as she said, ‘I understand that. I am of course willing to give you all the help I can, but I don't anticipate that I shall be able to advance your progress.'

She had planned these words earlier, but they emerged as over-elaborate and evasive. She waited for a reaction, but the two grave-faced men gave her nothing. She said nervously, ‘Are you near to making an arrest?'

Lambert smiled. ‘We should be much nearer if people like you chose to be honest, Mrs Cooper.' He watched her for a couple of seconds as she struggled for a denial, then said quietly, ‘Perhaps you should know that officers in the murder team are at this moment speaking to Mr Peter Nayland.'

Her head reeled. Peter had said that it might come to this and he had advised her what she should do if it did. But in her shock she could not remember his instructions. She said stupidly, ‘You know about us?'

‘We do. And we shall shortly know much more.'

He made that sound very ominous. Perhaps it was his words, combined with the look of challenge on the long, lined face, that brought her back to her senses. They knew that she had been conducting an extramarital affair, but nothing more than that, did they? They couldn't arrest you for something which was going on all over the country. She said carefully, ‘I didn't tell you about Peter when we spoke on Monday because our relationship had nothing to do with Dennis's murder.'

‘You must be aware that your concealment of it now shows you in a very bad light. You lied to us about where you were and asked your friend Carrie North to support your story. You could have landed her with very serious charges. Do you believe your affair with Mr Nayland will involve a long-term commitment?'

What a roundabout phrase for something very simple! Peter was going to be the love of her life, all the sweeter for being discovered so unexpectedly when she had reached the age of forty-nine. She wasn't going to deny what was a source of pride to her. She said quietly, ‘Peter and I are serious. I don't think either of us expected that when we first slept together, so it has come as a very welcome surprise. After a decent interval, we shall get married and spend the rest of our lives together.'

Lambert nodded, then said calmly, ‘Unless of course one or both of you were involved in the despatch of your husband. The mandatory sentence for murder is life imprisonment.'

Alison knew she couldn't be as dispassionate as he was, but she could try to match his steely hostility. ‘We needn't fear that. Neither of us had anything to do with Dennis's death.'

Lambert did not offer her even an assenting nod. Instead, he said almost eagerly, ‘Mr Cooper's death was a highly convenient occurrence for you.'

‘I don't dispute that. But it has merely made things more straightforward for us. It has avoided the necessity of a messy divorce.'

‘Your husband was a Catholic. He would no doubt have opposed divorce.'

She was shocked anew. It was a small fact, but one she did not think they would have known. But they'd talked to a lot of people since Monday, as they'd told her they would do, and they'd had access to Dennis's private papers. Plus that damned black notebook. She said evenly, ‘Dennis was a practising Catholic. I am not. He would have opposed divorce, thrown in all sorts of arguments about his work here and the National Trust frowning upon a publicized divorce. But he wouldn't have won.'

‘Things are much more straightforward with him out of the way.'

‘Much more.' She spoke with a satisfaction which was almost truculent, then hastened to be more humble. ‘But it wasn't a reason to kill Dennis. The idea that we would do that is preposterous.'

‘And murder is a preposterous crime. People often ignore much simpler solutions. They feel frustrated and do things they wouldn't do if they were acting coolly and sensibly. How much do you know about this man you are planning to marry?'

The suddenness of the switch unnerved her. It was a new front in his attack and it was one she had not anticipated. And they had discovered a weakness. It set starkly before her what she had thrust to the back of her mind. She had been excited by this man who had declared his serious love for her, but she knew very little about him. She said grimly, ‘I know quite enough for my purposes. I know that Peter Nayland loves me and that he will treat me well.'

‘Perhaps.'

Lambert waited so long that she felt an overwhelming desire to fill the pause with words. But she could think of nothing sensible to say; the reality was that she knew little or nothing of Peter's background except that he was long divorced, wealthy and free to marry her. Eventually he said, ‘Do you know where he was on Sunday night?'

‘No. But he wasn't here, killing Dennis.'

‘You're almost certainly right. Mr Nayland employs other people to do his dirty work. If you are as ignorant as you claim to be about him, we know far more than you do about that.'

‘He's a successful businessman.' Alison bit her lip and twisted it between her teeth, realizing how futile that sounded, how little she could add to it.

‘We would prefer to say that he is successful in some very dubious businesses. He has been under investigation by the Serious Crime Division for some time now. Did he tell you about that?'

‘No. Perhaps he isn't aware of it.'

‘He's well aware of it. He takes pains to cover his tracks.'

‘Perhaps there aren't tracks to be covered. You seem to be finding it very difficult to bring Peter to court.'

‘It will happen. People like him always overreach themselves. Maybe he has done that this time.'

‘Peter has nothing to do with this crime.'

The clear grey eyes looked at her speculatively, seeming to Alison to be able to see much more than she would have wished. ‘You sound very sure of that. If you could convince us, it would help all of us.'

It was tempting. She could say they had been together, give both of them an alibi. The police might not like that, but it would be difficult for them to disprove it. But at this very moment, Peter might be telling other officers a different tale. They were deep in this already – he had warned her that the spouse of a murder victim was always a leading suspect, and these men had pointed out how convenient this death was for her and her plans. She couldn't afford to be caught out in a lie. She said as firmly as she could, ‘I'm quite sure Peter didn't commit this crime, because I know the man I've agreed to marry. I don't know where he was on Sunday night, but I'd be confident he was nowhere near here.'

‘You are almost certainly right. I've already indicated to you that he isn't a man who does his own dirty work. He uses other people when he thinks violence is required. It's expensive, but he can well afford it.'

Lambert did not disguise his contempt. It was a shock to her, to hear the police talk about Peter like this, an unwelcome glimpse of that business world which he had never explained and which she had always been content to leave vague. She said boldly, ‘You would need to prove that. I am confident you will not be able to do so.'

She waited for a comment on this from Lambert, but it was Hook who suddenly said, ‘We now know that you didn't spend the night of the murder with Carrie North, as you claimed on Monday. Where were you on Sunday night, Mrs Cooper?'